Droplets of a liquid alloy on a silicon surface can rearrange the surface atoms so that they mimic the short-range ordering of atoms in the alloy. Remarkably, this effect inhibits freezing of the droplets

The ability to perceive Earth's magnetic field, which at one time was dismissed as a physical impossibility, is now known to exist in diverse animals. The receptors for the magnetic sense remain elusive. But it seems that at least two underlying mechanisms exist — sometimes in the same organism

In the pancreas, insulin-producing ?-cells are long-lived and generally replicate seldom. They can do so, however, after increased metabolic demand or after injury. Here, a new transgenic model is developed in which ?-cells are nearly completely ablated in mice. If given insulin, these mice survive, and grow new ?-cells. Lineage-tracing shows that these new ?-cells come from ?-cells, revealing a previously disregarded degree of pancreatic cell plasticity